THE PARMESAN CHEESE FACTORY TOUR

 

We watched a master cheese maker make parmesan cheese today.  It was part of a tour we took of a factory that makes certified Parmigiano Reggiano cheese.  What an interesting experience!  We had to put on a poncho, hat, mask and even shoe coverings before we entered the factory.  Here’s us posing in our lovely attire.

Cheese gets made here every day.  There are no holidays for the master cheese maker, although the factory workers do get one day a week off and vacation time.  This is very manual work.  There is no automation; it is all done by hand and the expertise of the master cheese maker.  The cheese making process is all part of a co-op of dairy farmers from the region and the cheese factory.  The master cheese maker is ultimately responsible for the factory’s finished product.  The higher the quality of the product, and the more profitable the co-op, the master cheese maker then makes his salary through a share of the profits. 

After the cheese is set in molds, it has to age in a brine solution for 25 days where it is flipped once a day.  We got to flip the cheese:

Some interesting facts about the Parmigiano Reggiano cheese making process:

•  270,000 cows are milked twice a day.  The milk has to be at the cheese factory within 2 hours of milking.
•  One wheel weighs approx 40 kg (88 lbs) and costs approx €600 ($840).
• It takes about 600 liters (160 gallons) of milk to make one wheel of cheese.
• Each wheel ages for a minimum of 12 months and then inspected again every 12 months to determine which level of Parmigiano Reggiano it will be sold at.  For more info, go to www.parmigiano-reggiano.it . 
•  At the end of the tour we went into the “aging” room and saw over 10,000 wheels of cheese aging on massive sets of shelves.  It was truly one of those awe inspiring moments.